


When She Calls, I Come Running

by For_the_love_of_fiction



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: 5 times trope, F/M, Not Beta Read, One Shot, Season 2, needed to get this out of my head, weird timelines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 15:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20449622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/For_the_love_of_fiction/pseuds/For_the_love_of_fiction
Summary: It's been the summer from Hell.  But when she calls, he'll answer.  Every.  Single.  Time





	When She Calls, I Come Running

**Author's Note:**

> So the timeline on this is funky (cause the original is so well managed), so here's a cheat-sheet:
> 
> 1: Sometime before 2.1 'Normal is the Watchword'.
> 
> 2: Sometime after 2.1
> 
> 3: During 2.7 'Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner', but it takes place earlier in the season, before Wallace leaves for Chicago.
> 
> 4\. Anytime between 2.5 & 2.10. 
> 
> 5\. Before Wallace comes back and before Duncan leaves.

The first time Veronica called Logan after their breakup was to ask about some stuff that she had left at his place.

He stared at the phone for a full minute before answering. “Well, well, well. What favor does the great Veronica Mars need?”

She was quiet. It was very unlike her, and he worried for a moment before her voice came over the speaker. “I just left some stuff at your place, can I come by and grab it?”

His eyes narrowed. She sounded like the Veronica of  _ before _ , when Duncan and Lily walked all over her. Her spark was gone. “Fine,” he said curtly, not wanting the conversation to go longer. “Come by tonight, I’ll be partying at Dick’s. I’ll let the housekeeper know you’re coming.”

He hung up the phone before she could respond. 

\----

The second time was after the bus crash

He was in his car driving home from the Casablanca’s when the radio came on with the news of the bus crash. The bus that he was supposed to have been on. The bus that  _ Veronica _ was on. 

Thoughts raced through his head, one more terrifying than the next. He barely remembered pulling off the road, but his phone was in his hand before he realized what was happening. 

He hesitated. They were clearly not speaking, and after his stunt this afternoon, he didn’t know if she would even answer him. 

** _R u okay?_ **

He made himself press send before he could doubt himself. Not knowing was worse. But what if she didn’t answer? Would that be even more heart-stopping? The doubts that he feared were now flying through his head. What if she didn’t want to answer? What if she  _ couldn’t _ answer? What if-

The phone rang. 

“Hello?” Logan didn’t think that he’d ever answered a phone so quickly.

“I’m alright. I wasn’t- we weren’t on the bus when it crashed.” Her voice wasn’t steady, and all he wanted to do was to hold her in his arms, but he couldn’t. He assumed that Duncan was the ‘we’ in her sentence, and somewhere, deep,  _ deep _ down, he was relieved that his best friend wasn’t dead. 

He couldn’t respond. His voice wasn’t there, and if he did, she would hear all the emotions that he was trying to keep bottled inside. 

She seemed to understand this because when a minute had passed with no response from Logan, she whispered, “thanks. For checking,” and hung up. 

He sat in his car with his head on the steering wheel for an hour, before he finally felt steady enough to finish his drive home. 

\---

The third was in the hallways at school, while he and Wallace were talking about their physics class. They had been assigned a paper, and were working out the details. The less ‘together time’, the better.

Logan’s phone rang, and it cut short a lively discussion on who was going to do the intro.

He didn’t have to look up to see Wallace looking at him strangely. A myriad of emotions were hitting him, and he knew that he couldn’t keep them all off of his face. What was Wallace seeing? Anger, at her abandonment of him when he needed her most? Disappointment, from expecting anything different from the women in his life? Sadness, from not being able to hold her? Love, maybe? He knew he still felt that. 

He felt the resignation on his face when he finally answered. “What do you need, Mars? Or is this just a booty call?”

“I need you to get me a babysitting job with the Fuller’s, I know you know them.”

“Aww, skipping the foreplay this time? Just want to get right down to the dirty stuff then?” Logan leaned against the lockers, deliberately not looking at Wallace. 

“Come on Logan, this is serious. It’s for a case. If you help me get the job in the next 24 hours, I’ll give you all the stuff you need to know about your tipster.” She was using her  _ this is serious _ voice, and he knew that he was going to cave into her demands. 

“Fine, I know they’re doing some charity work or something this week. I’ll make sure that they have your info.”

He shut his phone and looked down at it, still trying to avoid Wallace’s gaze which just felt like it was piercing right through him. 

“Why’d you answer?” Wallace asked him, curiously. 

“What  _ ever _ do you mean?” Logan asked, sarcastically, trying to deflect the answer, but not in the head space to come up with a better answer. 

“I saw it, man. You didn’t want to answer that. Why did you?”

Logan inhaled deeply and then resigned himself to the conversation. Wallace was a good friend to Veronica, and even though they didn’t always get along, Logan knew that he had her best interests at heart. 

“Lily was a force of nature. You either bent to her will, or got swept away,” he started, knowing that the response was going to be a bit more complicated than Wallace had asked.

Wallace snorted, “sounds like Veronica.”

Logan chuckled slightly, “Lily was a hurricane, Veronica is more of a bobcat. You don’t really see the teeth and claws unless you get too close. And when she’s hunting, she’s invisible. Her prey never see her coming. Lily craved attention. All eyes had to be on her. You saw the destruction coming from a mile away, and you welcomed it. She made you feel grateful for the attention.

“When Veronica and Duncan were dating, it was almost like she turned into a house-cat. She was more… domesticated. She started going with the flow, and only got into trouble when Hurricane Lily came through.” He stared off into the distant empty hall, lost in memories.

“When Duncan and Veronica got back together,” Logan continued, after a short pause, “I started seeing that side of her again. What did I hear from this summer? ‘Normal is the watchword?’ She’s trying to go back to that domesticated state. But a wild animal can only be tamed for so long before its true nature comes out. It’s starting again. She’s back to taking cases and how long is it before she gets into trouble again?”

He hated it. Hated looking so weak in front of anyone. Hated that he still cared so much. Hated that he knew Wallace would understand completely. He finally looked at Wallace, and saw understanding, but no sympathy or pity in his eyes. That helped. A minuscule amount. 

“What happens if I stop answering and she stops calling? What if she needs help? She attracts danger like waves attract surfers. If I don’t answer, and she needs help…”

Wallace nods. “Cool. I get it, man. Now about that paper… since you got an assignment from V, I’ll do the intro. But this don’t let you off the hook for next time!” He pointed his finger at Logan, while walking away, his mock serious face giving Logan a chuckle. 

\---

The fourth call was a butt dial. 

He had a moment of panic, flashing back to the psycho ATF agent who carjacked her, but relaxed when he heard her talking to her dad. 

The words were unintelligible, but he couldn’t bring himself to hang up right away. He listened to her voice just long enough to feel like a creeper, and then hung up.

\---

On the fifth call, she was in trouble.

“Well, if it isn’t Veronica Mars. Need another favor? Or do you just love the sweet sound of my voice?”

“Logan?” Her voice was small and quiet. Not something he wanted to hear.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He sat up on his couch quickly, as if he could get to her sooner that way.

“The Fitzpatrick's.” She had gotten quieter and he knew she was in trouble. Real trouble. 

He was on his feet in a second. “I’m coming for you. Stay on the line, and don’t talk if they can hear you. I need to know where to go, though.”

His leather jacket was hanging off the couch and he grabbed his jacket and some keys. He was in the garage of the Grande before she spoke again. 

“I’m in an alleyway three blocks away from The River Styx. I think they’re trying to herd me there.” She was still quiet, but her next words had a sliver of humor in them, “and Logan? Don’t bring the banana. It’s too conspicuous.”

He chuckled softly, but said seriously, “I’m not that stupid. I’m taking Aaron’s car. The one he used on the infrequent chance that he wanted to avoid the paparazzi. It’s a black SUV. It wasn’t damaged in the fire.” 

He got into said SUV and started making his way downtown. He kept a steady stream of nonsense on the phone, so she would know that he was still there. She quietly guided him to the alley where she was hiding. 

He pulled into the street that the alley branched off from, and did a sweep, before letting her know that the coast was clear. 

A small blonde head popped up from behind a tarp covering some wooden pallets, and she scrambled over to the car and climbed into the passenger seat. He gunned the engine before she had even shut the door. 

They were quiet for a few moments, the attention on the road and making sure that they weren’t followed or seen. 

“Why’d you call me?” Logan finally asked. He was relieved beyond all words that she had, but it still didn’t make any sense to him. 

She looked down at her hands, now that she was out of immediate danger. “My dad’s chasing a bail jumper in the Midwest, he’s trying to get to Canada, we think. Wallace is still in Chicago. Weevil and I are on rocky ground right now, and I’m not sure that I want him near Fitzpatrick territory anyway. Mac’s not cut out for things like this. Duncan’s really not cut out for this, plus he’s in Napa with his parents right now. And I knew that you would,” she paused, “be there.”

He softened slightly, but he was still a bit on edge from her near brush. “Why were you even out there?” It came out harsher than he meant, and he saw her bristle. 

“It was a set-up!” She was in full defensive mode. “I got a call about a cheating wife, needed to get some picture evidence. I went to do my job and got surrounded by the Fitzpatrick's. Luckily, I’m small, and I slipped through them. They spent the next hour herding me back to the bar before I found that alleyway to hide in. Trust me, I didn’t go looking for trouble!”

“And yet, it always seems to find you!” He knew that it wasn’t fair. He was blaming her for so many things unspoken between them, but he was frustrated at her danger magnet. 

“Oh really? You’re one to talk!” She took a deep breath, and sighed. “Just take me home.”

“No.”

“What?!” If she could spit fire, his car would be a burnt crisp. 

“Veronica,” he said, as if explaining something to a five-year-old, “the Fitzpatrick's had you cornered in an alley tonight. Your dad is out of town. I’m not leaving you alone. The Grande has security and doormen. You’re going to stay the night there.”

She huffed, but saw the logic, and didn’t put up a verbal fuss. But her body language said a lot. He didn’t care. She could be as mad as she wanted to be, as long as she lived to be mad at him tomorrow. 

They rode the rest of the way in silence. The elevator ride was excruciating, but they made it to the suite in one piece. 

Logan threw his jacket back on the couch, from where he had grabbed it earlier. His video game, that he had been playing when she called was still on, although it looked like his character had died. He wasn’t sure if he should take that as an omen or not. 

Veronica was looking around, and looking a bit awkward. Not a standard look from her, but at least she had retracted the claws for now. 

“I guess you can take Duncan’s room. Or you can crash out here on the couch. Whatever you need.” He grabbed his stuff and made to make a hasty retreat, when she stopped him.

She gently tugged on his arm, making him face her. “Thanks Logan. I didn’t say that earlier. But thanks for coming to get me.”

He smirked, “now how hard was that for you to say?” He was rewarded with a smile and some fading of the awkward feeling. 

“Hard. Next time, I’ll just bake some cookies and we’ll call it even, okay?” 

“Next time? Plan on making this a habit?” His tone was joking, but his eyes were serious. 

“Not if I can help it,” she shot back, with the same joking tone and serious face. 

Logan’s smirk still didn’t reach his eyes, but he walked over to his room. He hesitated before entering, though, and turned back around. “Seriously, Veronica. If you ever need help, or anything, I’ll be there for you. Every time. Always.” With that, he retreated into his room and shut the door.

Veronica stared at his room for a bit. She had so much to say to him, so much she wanted to say to him. That self-sabotaging voice in her head piped up, though, and made her doubt herself. 

Instead of going to Logan’s room to talk to him, work things out, she made herself comfortable on the couch. Duncan’s room might have been more comfortable, but things had been off between them lately, and she didn’t know where they stood. 

She felt safe on the couch. It wasn’t the hotel that made her feel safe, and it wasn’t the security. It was Logan. Sleeping just feet away in the next room. He’d always have her back when she really needed it, and that thought was more comforting than anything else. 

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't written anything in a LONG long while, and I'm rusty. This piece is more of a "get it out of my head" than a dive back into writing, but I'd still appreciate feedback on it, both positive and constructive. 
> 
> Also, I'm definitely new to VMars fandom. I recently started watching it, finished it up to sometime in the early 3rd season. Stopped because I KNOW that Logan and Veronica are going to break up, and I can't bring myself to watch it yet. Did skip to the movie, because I needed to know what happened, and I know what happens at the end of season 4, because the internet. Don't worry about spoilers for me, but I may not know everything yet.


End file.
